Sit n go (SNG) / STT) game formats found online

Sit n gos are a popular format of poker. One of the great things about them is that there is a whole range of them so you can be sure to find a version that you like. In this article we'll look at the main formats of SNGs -

Standard SNGs

By 'standard' I'm talking about the speed of the game, in terms of how often the blinds increase. A standard speed sit n go is perfect for the tight aggressive player who can be patient in waiting for good starting hands rather than being quickly forced all in. As an example, standard speed STTs on Party Poker increase every 10 minutes.

Turbo SNGs

Turbo SNGs are where the blinds increase at a faster rate and therefore the whole game is shorter. Turbos are more and more popular in online poker as they offer fast action along with a great way to increase the volume of games played (and therefore player points etc.) Turbo sit n gos quickly become a game of all in or fold, which means that players with good knowledge of when to shove and when to fold will easily dominate these games. Arguably, turbos have higher variance but if you are a profiting STT player it makes sense to play these for the volume. To illustrate how quick these games are, on Party Pokerthe blinds increase on the turbos every three minutes.

Turbos are great for exploiting less experienced opponents, especially on the bubble/late stages of the game. Most online SNG players don't have a grasp of the correct hand ranges to be calling and folding and will quite happily snap call your all in with a weak ace, for example.

Hyper turbo/super turbo sit n gos

These take the idea of fast, quick SNG action to the max. Typically you'll start with just ten times the big blind, which means pretty much every decision is about whether to go all in or not. Poker players who crave action are drawn to the hyper turbos, as are SNG players who want to grind a large volume of games to obtain player points and climb leaderboards. As you might expect, variance on these is high, and the ROI (return on investments) tend to be lower. That said, there are many players who consistently do well on these games, proving that hyper turbos can be beaten in the long term.

Double or nothing (DoN) SNGs

Double or nothings (commonly referred to as 'DoNs' are a popular form of sit n gos. The idea is that when half the entrants are left, those players win - double the money they bought in for. The half who lost get nothing. This creates an interesting dynamic in the game as players are cautious about busting out of the game early.

50/50 STTs

The 50/50 SNG format was introduced by PokerStars to replace their DoNs. The idea is similar in that the game ends when half the field is left. Half of the prize pool gos to the five players left. The other half of the prize pool is paid out according to how many chips you have left at the end of the game. This means as well as surviving until the end, you also have the incentive to accumulate chips during the game rather than just folding every hand.

Headsup, 6max. 9man SNGs, etc.

'6 max', '9man' 'Xman' simply refer to how many players are in the sit n go. 'Headsup' is where it's just two of you. The larger SNGs have 90 or 180 players. Generally speaking, the more the players, the higher the ROI for a winning/profitable SNG player, as there is a higher prize pool, especially so for first place.

Depending on how many entrants there are in the STT, a slightly different strategy is called for. Probably the most popular SNG online now is the 9-man, epsecially the turbos. The best sites for 9man SNGs are probably Titan or PokerStars as they are so busy and you won't be kept waiting long for a game.